A private investigator agrees to cooperate with the government.

Bryan Wagner, 29, a subcontractor for investigators hired by H-P, pleaded guilty to two felony counts in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to weekend media reports.

H-P was engulfed in scandal last September after it disclosed it had launched a probe to determine the source of boardroom leaks to journalists. The uproar cost Patricia Dunn her role as the company's chairwoman, and she now faces charges in the case, along with Kevin Hunsaker, a former H-P officer.

Wagner pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal Sunday. He admitted to setting up an online account using the Social Security number of a reporter in order to gain access to the reporter's telephone records, the report added.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the identity theft charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the report also said.